Jason Priestley believes Brandon Walsh and Kelly Taylor were meant to marry on Beverly Hills, 90210. Asked why that future never materialized, the actor had a two-word answer: “I left.”
Jennie Garth, who played Kelly, had a more immediate complaint after revisiting the couple’s abandoned wedding. “I was so pissed when they didn’t get married,” she told Priestley. She had forgotten how the episode unfolded until watching it again.
The former costars discussed the storyline during the October 16 episode of 9021OMG, available through iHeart. Recorded at Garth’s home, the interview marked Priestley’s first appearance on the rewatch podcast.
Their characters reached their wedding day in the two-part Season 8 finale, which aired May 20, 1998. They called off the ceremony before exchanging vows, then invited their guests to celebrate at the reception anyway.
Brandon’s Move to Washington Came After the Canceled Wedding
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Garth also objected to the characters behaving as though everything was fine after abandoning the wedding. Their relationship continued into Season 9: the premiere, “The Morning After,” picked up with the couple spending the night together after canceling the ceremony.
Priestley’s departure came in the fifth episode of that season, “Brandon Leaves,” which aired November 4, 1998. Brandon accepted a job with the Washington, D.C., bureau of the New York Chronicle, according to Paramount+‘s episode guide. The move removed him from Kelly’s day-to-day life and the show’s regular cast.
Garth Thought Brandon Offered Kelly a More Stable Future
The conversation returned to the show’s long-running romantic rivalry: Brandon or Dylan McKay, played by Luke Perry. Asked which character he would have wanted to date if he were a teenage girl watching the series, Priestley chose Dylan, saying he would have been drawn to bad boys.
Garth understood why Kelly had made the opposite choice. She believed that stability and less drama made Brandon the better prospect for marriage.
Priestley also understood Kelly’s desire to discover who she was without a boyfriend, as Entertainment Weekly reported. He recalled her history with Steve Sanders and Dylan while discussing her attempts to work out what she wanted on her own.
Kelly remained a central character after Brandon left, and her relationship with Dylan returned to the forefront. By the series finale, the two had reunited, giving her a different romantic ending from the one Priestley had envisioned.
Priestley Asked Aaron Spelling to End the Show Before He Quit
Priestley had begun questioning his future on 90210 during its eighth season. He recalled increasingly elaborate storylines involving characters in comas and surprise twin brothers turning up at hospitals.
He identified that season as John Eisendrath’s first as showrunner. Although Priestley praised Eisendrath’s writing, he felt the drama had moved toward the exaggerated storytelling associated with daytime soaps. Garth agreed that the season had felt different.
Priestley approached Spelling and urged him to finish the series while its ratings were still strong. He wanted the writers to work toward a proper conclusion, according to Page Six. Spelling rejected the idea, telling him, in Priestley’s recollection, that he would have to be carried off the set in a body bag.
With no endpoint in sight, Priestley decided to pursue other opportunities after eight full seasons as one of the Fox drama’s original leads.
Priestley Says He Would Have Stayed If He Had Known the End Was Close
Beverly Hills, 90210 continued for roughly another year and a half after Priestley’s departure, ending its 10-season run on May 17, 2000. He told Garth that knowing how little time remained would have changed his decision.
Garth remembered the final seasons feeling different without him. Shannen Doherty, who played Brandon’s twin sister Brenda, had already left, so neither of the Walsh siblings who introduced viewers to Beverly Hills remained in the main cast.
She also missed Priestley’s involvement behind the scenes. He had communicated regularly with Spelling and the writers, and Garth felt less protected after he left. She remembered too many people trying to influence the show’s direction.
Priestley’s current work includes Private Eyes West Coast, which premiered on The CW on October 5. The series reunites him with Cindy Sampson as investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett, now married and raising a family in Victoria, British Columbia.